Halma sticks to full-year targets after solid H1 progress

(Sharecast News) - Safety equipment group Halma said it expects deliver good underlying growth in the first half, as it maintained full-year guidance. The company reported on Thursday that it has made "further progress [...] despite varied market conditions" in the six months to 30 September.

Halma, which offers a range of services including hazard detection, water analysis and medical devices, is sticking with its forecasts made in June at the time of its full-year results, which indicated "good" organic revenue growth at constant currencies and a return on sales of 20%.

In the year to 31 March 2023, the company generated revenues of £1.85bn and a return on sales of 19.5%.

"We continue to benefit from the strength and relevance of our purpose, the agility and entrepreneurialism which we derive from our Sustainable Growth Model, and the diversity and global reach of our portfolio. These are enabling us to deliver continued progress in varied market conditions," Halma said in a statement.

Order intakes across the company are ahead of the same period last year and close to revenue in the year to date.

However, the appreciation of Sterling is having a negative currency translation effect on reported figures, which is expected to continue into the second half of the year.